The European Council is the EU institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union. It consists of the heads of state or government of the member states, together with its President and the President of the Commission.

The Council of the EU is the institution representing the member states' governments. Also known informally as the EU Council, it is where national ministers from each EU country meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.

On 15 February 2016, the Council adopted a decision extending EU restrictive measures against Zimbabwe until 20 February 2017. The decision follows the annual review of EU restrictive measures against Zimbabwe.

The restrictive measures will continue to apply to Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, his wife Grace Mugabe, and Zimbabwe Defense Industries, while measures against five high ranking members of the security apparatus will remain suspended. Furthermore, 78 persons and 8 entities, against whom measures had been suspended, will be removed from the list. An arms embargo will remain in place.

The decision will be published in the Official Journal of the EU on 17 February 2016.

The restrictive measures were initially introduced in February 2002, when the Council expressed grave concern at the situation in Zimbabwe, in particular at serious human rights violations by the country's government.

Give feedback

Your commentYour comment is required.

This field should not have been filled.

The General Secretariat of the Council is a body of staff responsible for assisting the European Council and the Council of the EU. It helps organise and ensure the coherence of the Council's work and the implementation of its 18-month programme.

Sign up for similar press releases.
Choose the topic(s) and entity of your interest:

Topics

Foreign affairs & international relations

Entity

Foreign Affairs Council

Enter your email address and we will send you a link to your subscription:

Your email address:Email is required

Your request will be handled by the Press Office of the General Secretariat of the Council in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data.Your data will be stored in the database until you unsubscribe from the service.Certain data (name, e-mail address, preferred language, media name, media type) may be disclosed to the press offices of the European institutions, the Permanent Representations of the Member States and to European Union agencies, under the conditions laid down in Articles 7 and 8 of Regulation 45/2001.
If there is data which you would not like to be stored, please let us know at: press.office@consilium.europa.eu